The packing and shipping of fresh cut asparagus have historically presented peculiar problems and have resulted in the design of specialized containers for the product. Traditionally, asparagus has been shipped in trapezoidal-shaped wooden boxes, packed vertically to allow the asparagus to continue to grow in the box. Immediately after packing the box, the asparagus is hydro-cooled with ice water to retard growth as much as possible. Wooden boxes have increased greatly in price and the asparagus industry is increasingly turning to paperboard box structures. Problems that have been encountered with respect to paperboard boxes, however, include product packing difficulty and the use of large quantities of material per box to maintain adequate strength, especially stacking strength. Also, at least some of the paperboard boxes such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,829 are fully constructed from a single blank and require that the box go through the hydro-cooler with the cover in position in order to maintain adequate box strength.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a container for asparagus and the like characterized by its ease of loading.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container for asparagus and the like characterized by its high strength.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a container for asparagus and the like that is readily adapted for display after shipping.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a container for asparagus and the like that maintains adequate strength in the hydro-cooling process without the cover component being positioned over the box body thus improving the efficiency of the hydro-cooling process.